


listen to the sound of my heart (it beats for you)

by sinagtala



Series: Buhay Banda [1]
Category: Buhay Kolehiyo, SSU, Sexy Sexy Universities
Genre: Band Fic, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 19:09:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12091515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinagtala/pseuds/sinagtala
Summary: Neo isn't prepared when Salle comes crashing into his life. Literally, but not really.





	listen to the sound of my heart (it beats for you)

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe NeoSalle got me out of my writing stump. I haven't written (or at least finished writing) anything in 6? 7? years sdfghjlasdfghjl
> 
> All characters are owned by [Sexy Sexy Universities](https://www.facebook.com/sexysexyuniversities/) on Facebook!

“’Wag mong sayangin ‘yung gabi, Neo.”

The wooden table shakes a little and Neo falls off the palm he had been sleeping on. He looks up to see Mia settling down on the seat across from him, trying to stifle a laugh. She places two plastic red cups on the table and pushes one of them towards him, raising an eyebrow that had “uminom ka” written all over it.

Neo covers his face with his palms, grasping onto the skin on his cheeks. “Alam mo namang galing akong finals, Mia. Inaantok ako,” he groans through his fingers. He takes the drink and downs a few gulps in the hopes of waking himself up, but all the fizzy liquid does is leave him with a bad aftertaste.

“Tulugan mo na lahat ng bands, ‘wag lang ito,” Mia quips at him before taking a sip from her drink.

Neo looks to the stage where a band—he didn’t catch their name—had just finished their last song and remembers that they’re here because Cessie’s band is playing tonight. Except he doesn’t know who Cessie is and he asks with no foreword whatsoever, “Why?”

“Kasi sila Cessie na susunod!” Mia answers him, oblivious. The girl in green was too busy searching the stage for a certain girl in twin buns that she didn’t notice the underlying sentiment in the Atenean’s question.

Neo yawns inside his palms, then downs another three gulps of beer. The poor boy almost chokes for going too fast, and he’s coughing as he puts the cup down. “No, I mean, why? Bakit nandito rin _ako_?” he says after clearing his throat. “I want to go home, Mia.”

Mia finally looks at him and gives him a pout. “Kasi you promised your _best friend_ na sasamahan mo siya sa gig ni Cessie after finals mo.”

“If I knew the gig was on the last day of my finals I wouldn’t have said I’d go,” Neo whines. He feels a tad guilty after the words leave him, but _damn it_ , he’d just been through a week of hell and all he wanted to do right now was _sleep_. It didn’t help that the venue was dimly lit, either, or that the noise of people chatting was drowning out his thoughts, putting him in a state of nonbeing. It was like the universe was conspiring against him tonight.

The sound of feedback rings through the venue and a girl in twin buns walks to the stage. She adjusts the height of the microphone stand in front of her down before greeting the audience. “Good evening! Kami nga pala po ang The Burning Star,” Cessie’s voice echoes through the microphone, “Salamat sa pag-imbita sa’min!”

She has a charming voice, Neo gives her that. He hopes it’s as charming when she sings. He props himself up in his seat and adjusts it so that it’s turned towards the stage. He crosses his arms instead of resting one on the table to combat falling asleep. Gotta show Mia what a good best friend he is.

“Ang title nitong unang song namin ay ‘Gising.’ Sana magustuhan niyo!”

Neo wasn’t expecting anything. He wasn’t into the indie music scene—all he ever listened to is _Gentle Piano Concertos_ on Spotify (and that 80’s disc his parents won’t stop playing in the car)—so he didn’t really know what sounded “good.” He looks over to Mia and sees how excited she is and thinks to himself that if Mia says they’re “good,” then he’ll just have to trust her on it.

The air is filled with the hum of amplifiers when the sound of wooden sticks hitting against one another cuts through and suddenly the crowd is cheering. The crash of cymbals coming in waves forces Neo’s half-lidded eyes open and he’s taken aback by the sudden pressure.

“What,” Neo says under his breath, his heart beating faster with each hit against drum skin and he finds himself staring down The Burning Star’s drummer. The guy’s wearing a black polo, the first two buttons opened and sleeves rolled over his elbows, his loosely waxed hair bouncing as he goes, and Neo’s _mesmerized_.

“Iba!” Mia squeals. She turns over to Neo while pointing to the stage. “Minsan ka lang makarinig ng drum solo sa start ng song,” she tells him, “Usually guitar or vocals agad.”

Neo doesn’t know what to say. One, because he doesn’t have a point of comparison anyway, and two, because he _can’t_ find the words to say. Yeah, he was _awestruck_ , but was it a “by what” or a “by _whom_ ”? The drum solo had ended, and Cessie was already singing, but his ears were still ringing to the earlier beat.

“Mia,” Neo calls out in the middle of her cheering, “Mia!”

His best friend turns towards him and laughs. “Buti naman gising ka na!” she teases.

“Lalapit ako sa harap,” he tells her straightforwardly, and Mia gives him a double take.

“Uyyy, fan ka na ba?” she grins. “They’re good, diba? I told you so.”

Neo takes his almost empty cup of beer and stands up. He fixes his chair underneath the table and gives Mia a soft “maybe” before heading towards the stage.

Mia was Cessie’s guest so they had a nice table at the side of the stage, free from the obstruction of audience heads. It was a nice table, really—except for the beam that covered part of the stage depending on where around the table you were seated. Said beam was making it hard for Neo to get a good look at the drummer-whatever-his-name-is, and he figured that the only way he could make it easy for himself was to join the crowd in front.

“Get me another beer while you’re at it!” Mia shouts at him before Neo disappears into the crowd.

Cessie had a smooth but _loud_ voice, and he kind of understands now why they’re called _The Burning Star_. They had that indie pop rock sound that blended well with Cessie’s vocals and Neo was starting to see why Mia liked them a lot.

The band was entering their second song when Neo finds himself a spot in the crowd. He looks at the drummer and suddenly he’s self-conscious about _everything_. He didn’t notice it earlier, but everyone in the crowd looked like they were dressed in a certain way, like there was some sort of hipster dress code that he wasn’t aware of. He, well—he looked like he had just gotten off a job interview, and while he didn’t look bad, it just wasn’t _cool_.

Just watching whatever-his-name-is was sending shivers down Neo’s spine. He was giving every beat everything he had, and Neo was just _so into that_ he lets out a frustrated sigh and downs the last few gulps of his beer. He’s holding onto the cup with both hands now and he’s quivering at the sight, and _god_ , _what he’d do_ to know his name.

“Grabe!” Cessie shouts into the microphone when the second song ends, “Love your energy, Katip!” She laughs and the music starts to slow down, their keyboardist segueing into a more laid-back melody. After two high-energy songs, the band was now transitioning into a ballad, but before Cessie started to sing, she talks to the audience again.

“It’s our first time performing here in Katip,” she giggles. “I’m Cessie; that’s Tom, our keyboardist; Addie, our bassist, and Kuya Salle, our drummer. Ah! I call him ‘kuya’ ‘cause he’s my legit kuya,” she says proudly. “’Wag kayo ma-fall sa kanya though, loser siya eh.” The crowd laughs.

Neo’s looking at the guy named Salle, who’s amicably laughing at Cessie’s joke, and he is _losing it._ He makes his way back to their table, sits down, and looks Mia in the eyes.

Mia’s looking at him like she knows what he’s about to say, and she smiles smugly.

“Siya ba?” she points to Salle.

“ _Shit_ , Mia, I’ve never had a crush this _bad_ ,” Neo spills.

Mia crosses her arms and winks at Neo. “Leave it to your best friend,” she says confidently, and Neo almost cries. “Pakilala kita later.”

Cessie was singing again now, and this time Neo notices how clear her vocals are. She had that thin vocal quality that was easy to listen to, and her words rolled out like the sun on a clear morning day. It was different from when she was shouting out lyrics earlier, and Neo finds that he likes this voice better.

Yet his eyes still look for Salle.

He was taking a break from his heavy drumplaying now and had turned over to giving the top of the crash cymbal and his floor and mid toms a few hits every so often. The star right now was Cessie, but even then Neo couldn’t look away from the guy with the slicked-back hair, and he _sighs_. He sits back in his seat and watches as The Burning Star segues into their next song, and when the riff changes he realizes he had forgotten to get Mia’s beer.

Neo apologizes, but she brushes it off as nothing.

“No, I’ll get you one. Libre kita,” he insists. “As thanks for inviting me.”

Mia laughs at the implication of Neo’s gratitude, then proceeds to shoo him away, intent on listening to the song that was now playing on stage.

Neo feels eyes on him as he walks away from his seat, and he pauses in his tracks to look around. He feels something stirring in his stomach, and ignores it, because there was _no way,_ right? There was no way Salle would be looking—

And he isn’t. Neo’s looking to the stage and Salle’s drumming busily, his head turned away from Neo’s direction. Yeah, there was no way, he convinces himself.

When Neo makes it back to their table Mia’s grinning at him like she had just found out a secret.

“What?”

“He was _totes_ looking at you.”

“No way,” Neo says dryly, placing their drinks on the table. He doesn’t notice himself downing his beer as fast as he can.

“You wouldn’t have known, of course,” Mia says, “Nakatingin siya sa’yo when you weren’t looking.”

Neo puts his cup down and covers his nose and mouth with his hands. “Shit, kinikilig ako, Mia. Stop that.”

The Burning Star ends their set with a synthesizer-driven tune, and the venue fills with applause. “Like us on Facebook at fb dot com slash the burning star p h!” Cessie says excitedly, “We’ll be announcing details about our EP launch soon! Thanks for having us!”

“How’d you and Cessie meet nga pala?” Neo asks as the backstage team prepared the stage for the next band.

“Sa Sev’s,” Mia says before quickly taking a swig from her beer. “Remember that spoken word poetry gig I went to? Cessie performed there too. Except di niya kasama ‘yung band that time.” She takes another sip from her drink.

Cessie played rhythm guitar alongside singing for the band, so it was no surprise that she’d have some solo gigs in the past, Neo thought. But he’s even more amazed with Mia, who managed to make friends so quickly. Sometimes he thinks about how different things would’ve been if Mia hadn’t forced herself into his life, and he looks back at the thirteen years they’ve been together and he’s glad she did.

“You know me, Neo. Walang hiya-hiya sa’kin,” she says matter-of-factly, as if reading his mind, and Neo laughs.

“Mia!!!” a familiar voice resounded, accompanied by hurried footsteps. In a split second Cessie was throwing herself onto Mia for a hug, and the girl in green was catching her in her arms. “Hey!” Mia squeals. “Ang galing niyo kanina!” she tells her mid-embrace.

“Salamat!” Cessie giggles. “Uy, okay lang ba if we share a table?”

Mia looks behind her and sees that the rest of The Burning Star is apparently there too. She gives Neo the look and the boy tries his best to conceal his blush. “Oo naman!” she says, making room.

“Oo nga pala! Cessie, Neo. Neo, Cessie,” she introduces them. “We’re childhood friends.”

Neo holds out his hand to shake Cessie’s, and the girl accepts. She flashes him a cheery smile and thanks him for watching them earlier.

“Nagustuhan daw ni Neo ‘yung first song niyo,” Mia butts in.

Cessie remembers which song it was and suddenly it clicks that she hadn’t introduced the rest of the band to Neo yet. “Oh yea, pakilala kita, Kuya Neo!” Neo twitches at the sound of ‘kuya’ but coming from Cessie it sounds friendly, so he lets it slide.

“Addie, Tom, Kuya Salle, meet Kuya Neo,” Cessie says without further ado, “Bago siyang fan!”

Mia laughs at Cessie’s introduction and Neo can’t contain the stain of red running across his cheeks.

“Ay, hindi ba?” Cessie asks innocently, but Neo knows she’s just teasing him.

Neo laughs. “No, you guys were really good,” he says sheepishly. He shakes Addie’s and Tom’s hands as well, and he feels his heartbeat quicken as he anticipates Salle’s. When the drummer reaches out for his hand he kind of freezes and it’s Salle who initiates the handshake. _Wow_. He looks up at Salle and the guy’s looking at him too, and the heat comes rushing back to his face.

The handshake was quick, but it was enough for Neo to grasp the difference between the sizes of their palms, and he feels weak. Salle looked as if he was the same height as him, but his hands were _huge_ in comparison to Neo’s. _God_.

Neo stands up abruptly and says something along the lines of I’ll-just-go-get-a-drink and dashes off to the bar. Salle follows him with his eyes, and he notices in his periphery that Mia’s looking the same way. He looks at her, and she gives him a knowing smirk. She mouths a “go” and Salle’s standing up, to Cessie’s, Addie’s, and Tom’s surprise.

Neo’s at the bar waiting for his drink when Salle stands beside him, and true enough, they _are_ the same height. The Atenean notices, however, that the guy was larger than him, and despite their similar heights, he feels that Salle has a much more dominating presence.

“Hey,” the Lasallian greets.

“Hey.”

Salle orders the same drink and his and Neo’s arrive at the same time. Just as Neo’s taking out his wallet, Salle stops him and winks. “My treat,” he says, holding up both cups. He hands one to Neo and the boy takes it with both hands and Salle laugh-snorts.

“Masyado kang stiff,” he teases, and Neo stiffens even more.

“Sorry,” Neo laughs awkwardly, “I’m not used to these kinds of places kasi.”

A gentle melody fills the silence they share, and they take this time to take sips from their respective drinks. It’s only Neo’s third cup that night, but he could already feel his head stirring, and he curses himself _ugh_ _not now_. He’s finally talking to Salle and he’s not going to let a little alcohol get in his way.

“You look beat,” Salle speaks up. “You okay?”

“I’m—“ Neo presses his thumb and index finger against his temples. “—fine—“

“Whoa,” Salle almost gasps when Neo stumbles. He’s ready to catch him, but Neo manages to maintain his balance. Salle takes the cup from his hand and places it down on the table behind them. “Dude, you’re obviously not okay,” he says, then laughs. It wasn’t anything serious, so Neo takes no offense from it.

“Yeah, I should sit down.”

“Tara,” Salle says, taking the Atenean’s hand and dragging him behind him. Neo’s hand twitches inside his and he turns his head to look at him to make sure that he wasn’t doing anything out of line. When he sees Neo’s face the boy looks flushed and really confused, and Salle hastily lets go of his hand.

“S-sorry, that was—I, uhh—“

“No. Don’t apologize,” Neo says firmly. “T-there’s nothing to apologize for.” He looks up at Salle, his flushed face in full view. He doesn’t attempt to hide anything, and he’s kind of dying on the inside because of it, but he stands his ground and prays that Salle gets the hint.

When they’re outside Salle sits Neo down in an empty table, excuses himself for a moment, and then comes back with a bottle of mineral water. “No more beer for you, okay?” Salle scolds him teasingly.

Neo laughs. “Sorry, to have you do this for me,” he says after opening the bottle. “I mean, we only just met, and—“

“Shhh,” Salle chides in, “Don’t think about it.” He takes a gulp of his beer. “By the way, may gig ulit kami next month, before our EP launch.”

Neo raises an eyebrow at him.

“I mean, since sabi ni Mia na you liked our first song. We’ll be playing it there. You might want to go.”

Neo feels his face burning again at the memory and he looks down at his hands. He opens his mouth and tries to say something, but his thoughts leave him with nothing, and _shit, stay cool, Anthony, you can do this._ His heart beat faster against his chest each passing second, and he blurts out, almost inaudibly, “Ang galing mo kanina.”

“What?”

“Y-your drum solo—it was really good,” Neo breathes out.

Salle laughs and rests his cheek on his palm. “Kinilig ka ba?”

 _Gago, don’t do this to me._ Neo’s heart was racing now, and he fumbles for what to say. _Putangina._ Salle was everything Neo expected him to be from the short time he saw him on stage. The sensation of having his expectations met was making Neo giddy, and he’s lost in his thoughts when Salle pulls his seat closer to his.

“So, Neo,” Salle begins, his voice low it sounds almost like a whisper. It’s the first time he’s called Neo by his name that night, and Neo revels in it. “What d’ya think of this?”

Salle takes his drumsticks out from the pocket of his pants, spins them around his fingers, then starts beating the rim of the table in front of them. It isn’t as wild as his drumming for ‘Gising,’ but Neo still finds himself drawn to the hypnotic rhythm, how Salle’s head flicked to the beat, or how his fingers would play with the sticks before a hit, and Neo imagines how nice it would be to drown into this.

“That was—“ Neo yawns. “—really good.”

The yawn isn’t convincing and Salle bursts out laughing. “Sorry, nakakaantok ba?”

When Neo realizes what had just happened he covers his face and groans in embarrassment. “Ahhh, sorry, that wasn’t what I—I mean, um—“ He uncovers his face and looks at Salle. “Sorry, galing kasi akong finals and medj kulang ako sa tulog,” he laughs awkwardly, “You were really good, swear.”

Salle looks at Neo a little longer after the Atenean looks away. He notices the mole under his right eye, his surprisingly long eyelashes, and the tint of red across the bridge of his nose. Bathed in the orange hue of the streetlights along Katipunan, Neo looks almost as if he’s glowing, and Salle wonders how a guy could look so beautiful.

Neo shivers, feeling a familiar sensation on him, like eyes watching his every—

He turns around and meets Salle’s eyes.

“Earlier, too, were you—“

“Did you notice?” the Lasallian asks, and Neo doesn’t have to ask him what he’s talking about.

“I—“ Neo doesn’t know how to respond. He’s looking at Salle and the guy looks like he already knows the answer, _I mean, of course I noticed—I just—didn’t want to think that—_ A smirk curls on Salle’s lips and Neo has to stop himself from losing his mind when the guy reaches out for his hand.

“Listen,” he says, putting Neo’s hand on his chest, just below his left collarbone.

Neo feels the thump of Salle’s heartbeat and almost withdraws his hand at the pulsation, but Salle holds onto the back of his hand tighter, and he’s forced to feel the drummer’s heart beating sixty miles per hour. Neo feels his palm sweating and as he catches his own breath he doesn’t know if it’s his or Salle’s heart that’s racing.

“Why—“

“You might not believe me, but I—“ Salle pauses and takes a breath. “N-nung nakita kita—“

Neo realizes that Salle’s probably as nervous as he is, and he finally lets out a genuine laugh, the kind that let go and let itself fall, like a waterfall turning waves into ripples, and Salle swears, if this goes on, he just might not be able to stop himself from completely falling in love.

“Hey.” This time it’s Neo who starts. “I might just be able to go.”

Salle looks up at him, confused.

“The gig,” Neo clarifies. “When is it?”

The drummer’s caught off guard and almost falls off his seat, but he’s quick to his feet and catches himself before he could embarrass himself any further. “Sorry,” he laughs it off, propping himself up. “Wala pang date, actually. Pero I could—“

“—text it to me,” Neo finishes for him. He gestures to Salle, “Here, give me your phone.”

Neo notices the hint of red creeping on Salle’s face as the guy hands over his phone. Right now Salle looks nothing like the drummer with the slicked back hair he saw on stage; now, he was just another guy fumbling around with whatever emotions were welling up inside him, and Neo _feels it—_ that reassurance that he fell in love with a “who” and not a “why” and how maybe, just _maybe_ , Salle feels the same.

But he’s also scared. And maybe Salle’s scared too.

“I’ll text you,” the Lasallian says after he’s given back his mobile. He looks at Neo’s contact details on his screen and thumbs over the name the Atenean had input. _Anthony Loyola._ He chuckles.

It’s fine like this, they both think. Exchanging numbers, _glances_. It’s fine if they take it slow. Neo remembers the hum of amplifiers, the moment of silence before the music roars, and he braces himself for the crash of beats coming his way.

**Author's Note:**

> The venue they're in is actually a mash-up of Route 196 in Katipunan (exterior) and Nesting Ground in Los Baños (interior), so it's fictional. Now you can guess which school I go to wink wink nudge nudge


End file.
